Cell observation apparatus and method

Abstract

A cell observation apparatus includes an image formation optical system control unit 51 which sets an initial scanning range of the focal position based on information relating to a thickness of a cell, forms an image of the cell at each of a plurality of focal positions within a set initial scanning range, subsequently acquires an image captured by an imaging unit 40 for each of the plurality of focal positions, estimates the thickness of the cell based on the image, updates the initial scanning range of the focal position based on the estimated thickness of the cell, and forms an image of the cell at each of a plurality of focal positions within the updated scanning range.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A cell observation apparatus comprising:
 an image formation optical system that forms an image of a cell cultured in a culture vessel; 
 an imaging unit that receives the image formed by the image formation optical system and captures the image of the cell; and 
 a processor configured to control a scanning range of a focal position of the image formation optical system and acquire information relating to a thickness of the cell from a placement surface in the culture vessel; 
 wherein the processor is further configured to 
 set an initial scanning range of the focal position for the cell based on the information relating to the thickness; 
 control the image formation optical system to form an image of the cell at each of a plurality of the focal positions within the set initial scanning range; 
 subsequently acquire the image captured by the imaging unit for each of the plurality of focal positions; 
 estimate the thickness of the cell based on the acquired image; 
 update a scanning range of the focal position initially set to be positioned within a range of the estimated thickness of the cell excluding the scanning range initially set in a thickness direction of the cell; 
 control the image formation optical system to form an image of the cell at each of the plurality of focal positions within the updated scanning range; and 
 acquire the image captured by the imaging unit for each of the plurality of focal positions within the updated scanning range. 
 
     
     
       2. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to 
 determine whether or not an entire cell has been imaged in a thickness direction of the cell based on the image for each of the plurality of focal positions; 
 estimate the thickness of the cell in a case where it is determined that the entire cell has not been imaged; and 
 update the initial scanning range of the focal position based on the estimated thickness of the cell. 
 
     
     
       3. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein in a case where it is determined that the entire cell has not been imaged in the thickness direction of the cell, the processor is further configured to update an unimaged range as a new scanning range of the focal position. 
 
     
     
       4. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether or not the entire cell has been imaged in the thickness direction of the cell based on edge information of the image for each focal position. 
 
     
     
       5. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether or not the entire cell has been imaged in the thickness direction of the cell based on edge information of the image for each focal position. 
 
     
     
       6. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 4 ,
 wherein in a case where an edge of the cell does not exist in the image for the focal position farthest away from the placement surface of the cell, the processor is further configured to determine that the entire cell has been imaged in the thickness direction of the cell. 
 
     
     
       7. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 5 ,
 wherein in a case where an edge of the cell does not exist in the image for the focal position farthest away from the placement surface of the cell, the processor is further configured to determine that the entire cell has been imaged in the thickness direction of the cell. 
 
     
     
       8. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to set the initial scanning range of the focal position at a next capturing time point of the cell based on the images of the cell captured at different time points in the past. 
 
     
     
       9. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to set the initial scanning range of the focal position at a next capturing time point of the cell based on the images of the cell captured at different time points in the past. 
 
     
     
       10. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to set the initial scanning range of the focal position at a next capturing time point of the cell based on the images of the cell captured at different time points in the past. 
 
     
     
       11. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 4 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to set the initial scanning range of the focal position at a next capturing time point of the cell based on the images of the cell captured at different time points in the past. 
 
     
     
       12. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 5 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to set the initial scanning range of the focal position at a next capturing time point of the cell based on the images of the cell captured at different time points in the past. 
 
     
     
       13. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 6 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to set the initial scanning range of the focal position at a next capturing time point of the cell based on the images of the cell captured at different time points in the past. 
 
     
     
       14. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to set the initial scanning range of the focal position at a next capturing time point of the cell based on the images of the cell captured at different time points in the past. 
 
     
     
       15. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to acquire at least one of a cell type, a cell culture period, a cell culture condition, or a cell size as the information relating to the thickness. 
 
     
     
       16. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to acquire at least one of a cell type, a cell culture period, a cell culture condition, or a cell size as the information relating to the thickness. 
 
     
     
       17. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to acquire at least one of a cell type, a cell culture period, a cell culture condition, or a cell size as the information relating to the thickness. 
 
     
     
       18. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to form an image of the cell at each of three or more focal positions within the initial scanning range set based on the information relating to the thickness. 
 
     
     
       19. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an illumination light irradiation unit that irradiates the cell with illumination light for phase difference measurement, 
 wherein the image formation optical system forms a phase difference image of the cell. 
 
     
     
       20. A cell observation method for forming an image of a cell cultured in a culture vessel by using an image formation optical system and observing the formed image, the method comprising:
 acquiring information relating to a thickness of the cell from a placement surface in the culture vessel; 
 setting an initial scanning range of a focal position for the cell based on the acquired information relating to the thickness, and controlling the image formation optical system to form an image of the cell at each of a plurality of focal positions within the set initial scanning range to be captured; and 
 subsequently acquiring the image captured for each of the plurality of focal positions, estimating a thickness of the cell based on the acquired image, updating a scanning range of the focal position initially set to be positioned within a range of the estimated cell thickness excluding the scanning range initially set in a thickness direction of the cell, forming an image of the cell at each of a plurality of focal positions within the updated scanning range; and acquiring the image captured by the image formation optical system for each of the plurality of focal positions within the updated scanning range. 
 
     
     
       21. The cell observation apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to update the scanning range of the focal position initially set to be positioned within the range of the estimated thickness of the cell excluding the scanning range initially set in the thickness direction of the cell, in a case where it is determined that the entire cell is not captured by the initial scanning range.